A Pleasant Tale
by JazNim17
Summary: After Lilith walks in on Daniel and Kaylynn's love affair, life in the Pleasant family begins to turn upside down, and each of the twins deals with it in her own way. As Lilith embarks on a new adventure in Strangetown as a runaway, Angela struggles to hold on to what's left of her family and search for her missing sister. Will the twins finally join forces as sisters?
1. The Pleasant Life

"Let's see. Maybe vampires are too overdone. I could make the protagonist a werewolf…" Lilith Pleasant mused to herself, staring at the computer, where one single line was written. She racked her brains for some good plots involving werewolves, but nothing came immediately to mind.

 _"Dirk? How dare you?"_

 _"Lilith, I was just helping Meadow with her class notes! Chill, babe."_

Sighing, Lilith fidgeted with the edge of her favorite skirt. It was a little shorter than her parents approved of and she loved it for that reason. She just couldn't focus on writing today, not with the morning's incident playing in her mind over and over again.

 _"Hey, Thayer. You better keep your hands off my boyfriend, you hear?" Lilith crossed her arms and stared at the other girl._

 _Meadow Thayer barely looked up from her reflection in the school's bathroom mirror. "Your boyfriend? That's cute, Pleasant. Real cute. I don't have any idea how a cute guy like Dirk got mixed up with you, but it's okay. It'll be over once he finds out what a real woman is like."_

" _You stay away from Dirk!" Lilith lunged for the stuck-up snob, seized by a sudden desire to strangle her. Meadow screamed._

" _Get off me, you creepy goth freak!" she shrieked._

 _Eventually a teacher intervened. Meadow explained, in a shrill, fake-hysterical voice, that Lilith was a bully and had attacked her for no reason, and Lilith was given a week's suspension._

A woman's scream filled the air, startling Lilith out of her thoughts. She was sure her parents weren't home yet, and she wasn't ready to explain everything to them.

Another scream. Something was definitely wrong. What if Mom had come home early from work and been confronted with a burglar? What if Angela had come looking for her and something happened?

While not crazily fond of her family, Lilith did care about them, and so she stomped down the stairs, determined to face whoever or whatever was there. The screaming continued, louder and louder, seemingly coming from her parents' room. Lilith took a deep breath before flinging the door open. "All right, intruders! Get out of…"

Her eyes widened as she tried to make sense of the scene before her. Two bodies, entwined together on her parents' bed, one being the maid and the other...that couldn't be Dad, could it?

Could it?

Afraid to believe her own eyes, Lilith ran from the room, unnoticed by the two illicit lovers.

Unaware of the soap opera unfolding in her own home, Angela Pleasant breathed in the fresh autumn air as she stepped off the bus. She loved all seasons, and was definitely enjoying fall.

It wasn't until the bus pulled away that she noticed the stranger standing by the fence, looking around as though he couldn't make up his mind where to go. He looked to be about her age, but tall, with longish black hair and dark eyes, dressed comfortably in a jersey and shorts.

"Hi," she said, waving at him. "I'm Angela. Are you lost?"

The stranger jumped. "Uh, hi! Um, yes. I'm Rick. Rick Contrary. Have you seen a bus from Desiderata Valley High around anywhere?"

"Desiderata Valley High?" No wonder she'd never seen him around here. "Isn't that kind of far away?"

The stranger – Rick – shrugged and looked down at his feet. "We were on a field trip," he mumbled. "I kind of…got separated."

Poor guy. He looked so uncomfortable. Without thinking about it, Angela grabbed him by the arm, pulling him toward the house. "Well, come on then! We've got a phone at home, you can call someone to pick you up."

"Yeah, that'd be great. They made us give up our cell phones when we got on the bus."

His face was suddenly the color of a tomato, and Angela wondered if she'd been too forward, grabbing him like that. She released him as they entered the house. "Phone's in there," she said, gesturing. "I'll grab us some snacks while you call home."

"Thanks." He headed into the living room to the phone, and Angela smiled. He was kind of cute, in an awkward, bashful kind of way, and it felt good to help him. Humming to herself, she headed into the kitchen, debating what snacks she should serve. Gelatin? Cookies? Chips? Hmmm. Maybe she should check and see if they had any ice cream. Everybody liked ice cream.

A sob shook her out of her thoughts as she entered the kitchen. Her sister, Lilith, stood with her back against one of the counters, her face buried in her hands. Angela froze. Okay, so she'd heard about her sister's confrontation with Meadow Thayer (Meadow had made certain the whole school heard about it) but it wasn't like Lilith to cry over something like that. Normally she'd be fighting mad, stomping around and knocking things over in anger.

"Lili?" she asked quietly. "Are you okay?"

Lilith shook her head. "Angie…you're never gonna believe this. I'm not sure I believe it myself. I can't believe he would cheat."

Cheat? Oh no. There must have been more to the story than Meadow let on. "Cheat? Who, Dirk?" The words felt wrong in her mouth. She wasn't in love with Dirk Dreamer like her sister was, but she knew him to be a good, stable, reliable person. Trustworthy. "I never expected that, but you know what?" She took a step forward. "If he's going to be like that, he doesn't deserve to date MY sister!"

Normally Lilith would have smiled. She would have made some sarcastic comment meant to hide the fact that she loved and appreciated Angela's solidarity. They'd then go on to argue about something minor, such as who should date who on their favorite TV show or who copied who on their hairstyle, and life would go on.

But this time Lilith didn't smile. She didn't have any cutting remarks. "No, Angie. I'm not talking about Dirk." She took a deep breath. "I meant Dad."

Angela nearly fell over. Lilith's words rang around and around in her head. Daddy…cheating? With who? It was impossible! Ridiculous! Totally absurd!

She burst into giggles, suddenly sure Lilith was joking. It was the only explanation that made sense. "Lili…you really had me going there. You're crazy, making up stuff like that on Daddy!"

She doubled over with giggles until Lilith's fist connected with the side of her face. "THIS IS NOT A JOKE!" Lilith yelled. Her fingers found a grip in her sister's hair and Angela twisted away.

"Ow, Lili, stop it! That hurts!"

A light clicked in Lilith's eyes, and suddenly the pain stopped. "I'm sorry, Angie," she said quietly, as though just realizing what she had done. "I'm sorry."

"LILITH MARIE PLEASANT!" Their father, Daniel Pleasant burst into the room. He grabbed Lilith's arm and dragged her out of the kitchen, but Lilith snatched her arm back. Daniel barely seemed to notice the disgust on her face. "What's gotten into you, attacking your sister like that? For shame!"

Angela winced. She hadn't forgotten Rick, who was still on the phone in the next room. Poor guy. Was it too much to ask her family to behave in front of a guest? And of course, she knew Lilith. Lilith wasn't going to take that lying down. Lilith was going to fight.

As she suspected, Lilith stood up straight and tall. "You're one to lecture me about shame!" she yelled in her father's face.

Daniel winced, but he recovered quickly, crossing his arms. "Young lady! Is that any way to speak to your father?"

"Oh, I don't know. Is hopping in the bed with Boobs-for-Brains Kaylynn any way to treat your wife?"

"Lili," Angela gasped, unable to believe that her sister would cross that line, or the way her father seemed to have no answer. It was true. Lilith wasn't making things up. Her father's face confirmed it.

What was going to happen to their family now?

"Yeah. I saw that," Lilith said, turning away from Daniel in disgust. Daniel's mouth hung open, unsure what to say. Would he comfort his daughter and apologize or deny his guilt?

"Uh, hey, Angela?" Rick poked his head around the corner. "Um…is this an okay time to ask where the bathroom is?"

There it was. Her chance to escape. "Uh…Yeah. Through that door right there. And hey, when you get out, let's hang out outside, okay?"

She escorted him outside a few minutes later, babbling away about anything and everything. "…I really don't swim as much as I used to, I used to love it, but then I started getting older. But really, I used to pretend I was a mermaid like all the time and it was so much fun and now I know I can't be a mermaid but I'd like to go out to sea, it's so fascinating. Did you know the octopus has three hearts?"

"Yeah. Did you know the female angler fish completely absorbs the male into her body?" It was the first time Rick had spoken up since they had come out here. He gave a bashful grin. "My mom's a marine biologist and my dad tracks whales for a living. I've been on a few trips."

"Really? That's so cool! Do you think I could talk with them?"

"I guess so." Rick shrugged. "I mean, my dad's supposed to be on his way to pick me up, anyway, so you'll meet him. Maybe he'll hang around for a chat. I just hope he can manage to do it without doing something stupid and embarrassing."

"Yeah, that's always rough." She was definitely familiar with embarrassment right about now.

He winced. "Sorry. I wasn't talking about in there, I promise."

"It's okay," Angela said with a sigh. "I'm sorry you had to see all that. Lili's not really a bad person, she's just really upset. But this thing with my dad and the maid...I mean, what got into him? What's going to happen now? Did he even think about us at all? I bet he didn't! And now when Mom finds out everything's going to be crazy around here, and Lili's already at odds with Mom and Dad both and I'm going to have to be peacemaker and I'm no good at that, Lili and I fight all the time. It's going to be so awful I may just go ahead and move in with my grandparents just to avoid all the drama or something like…sorry."

"Sorry?"

"I'm rambling again. You barely know me and I'm burdening you with all my problems." She scratched at a mosquito bite, staring down at the grass. Who knew inviting the poor guy in would lead to all this?

Rick hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder, and when she looked up, she was surprised to see him smiling. "Hey, it's okay. I fight with my parents a lot too. I get it. So if you need to talk, talk."

Angela was suddenly very glad to have met Rick. He had such a kind smile, and she just knew she could trust this shy, awkward, but nice boy. "Actually, if you don't mind…I think I'd rather hear about the ocean."

His smile widened. "Of course!"

And so, while her sister dealt with a family crisis, Angela sat outside, making a new friend.

She would never forgive herself for that.


	2. Stranger in a Strange Town

Stranger in a Strangetown

Lilith didn't wait for her father's response. She didn't wait for her mother to arrive. Tonight there would be more screaming, more anger, more slamming doors. She ran upstairs, locking her door behind her, not bothering to turn on the lights.

Would Mom believe her if she told? Or would she do as Angela had, and refuse to believe? Would Dad lie about it? She curled into a ball on her bed, sobbing. Too much. It was just too much. Maybe she could stay in her room forever, never come out. Never have to face her father again.

Her stomach felt all queasy. Mary-Sue had always been sort of distant toward Lilith. She couldn't imagine living with just her mom and Angela…but then she couldn't imagine facing her dad, either. And she certainly couldn't imagine living with the truth and not telling her mother.

There in the dark, curled into a tiny ball, Lilith's decision was made.

Angela could have talked to Mr. Contrary forever when he came to pick up Rick. Right now he was studying a pod of beluga whales that were exhibiting some odd behavior. It was fascinating.

"I'd love to see for myself," she said wistfully.

"We take extras sometimes," Mr. Contrary told her as he climbed into his car. "Come and visit Rick sometime, and we'll take you out to sea for an afternoon."

"Oh, can I?" Her eyes shone. "That would be so fantastic. Thank you!"

"Least we can do." Rick grinned, then rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks, ah, for everything. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come along. I uh…I wanted to give you this so if you ever need anything….or ever wanna go for a boat ride…." He handed her a small slip of paper with a phone number written on it. "You can text me, you know, if you want to."

"Sure!" Angela smiled brightly, folding the paper and placing it in her pocket. "Drive safe!" she called as Rick got in the car and they drove off. She waved goodbye until they were out of sight, and then she took a deep breath.

Time to face the music.

She found her mom at the kitchen table, studying her latest case. "Oh, there you are, Angela," Mary-Sue said cheerfully. She didn't look upset. Lilith must not have told her. "I brought home some Chinese when I got home from work. Go tell your sister, will you? I got her her favorite shrimp dish."

"Sure, Mom." She needed to check on Lilith anyway, needed to make sure her sister was okay. She'd sort of abandoned her.

Angela put on a cheery grin as she darted up the stairs, but it quickly fell off when she opened the door to Lilith's room.

Lilith was gone.

Strangetown had only two stores, and rarely did anyone ever use them, which was why the proprietor was so surprised when the doors swung open for the third time that night.

"Hey guys!" Called a teenager with chin-length brown hair. General Grunt's second boy, Ripp. He smiled at the other two patrons, also teens – a green boy and a dark-skinned beauty with dyed hair.

"Ripp, there you are," Ophelia said, running forward to hug her best friend. "Did the general finally decide to let you out of the house?"

"Yeah, in record time, too. Him and Tank have some kind of 'training weekend' going on. Never been more glad to get out of the house. Hey, hey, Johnny!" He bumped fists with his pal. "So what's the plan for tonight?

Johnny shrugged. "It's Ophelia's thing," he said. "I'm just tagging along because Jill's been getting on my nerves all day. My mom's having quads and Jill just thinks that's the best thing ever. She won't shut up."

"Quads? Dude. Your dad keeps going like this, soon us Earthlings are gonna have minority rights on our own planet!" Ripped laughed and turned to Ophelia. "So what's the plan?" he asked again. "I'm up for anything that keeps me out until my dad goes to bed."

Ophelia grinned. "We're going to go ghost hunting!" She held up a bag of marshmallows.

"Um, Ophie….I don't see what marshmallows have to do with it."

"Are you kidding me? Ghosts love marshmallows! I got tons so maybe they'll come out and play." Her grin faded as she studied her two friends' faces. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"No, no, we believe you," Johnny said quickly. "Right, Ripp?"

"Of course we do. Who knows more about ghosts than you? After all, neither of us live in a haunted house," Ripp babbled. "If you say they like marshmallows, they probably like marshmallows."

"Hey, get off me!" a voice called from outside, grabbing the teens' attention. Ripp, who was closest to the door, leaned outside, where a red-headed girl wearing mostly black was being hassled by a group of rough-looking men.

"Come on baby, don't be like that," one of them sneered, grabbing her by her arm. The girl slapped him, knocking his sunglasses from his face and earning a round of laughter from the others.

"Guys. I think she needs our help," Ripp said to his friends.

"Feisty, are we? Oh, you're lots of fun," the man who'd been slapped said with a sinister smile. He grabbed her by the arm, pulling her close to him. She kicked, but he just laughed and ordered one of his companions to retrieve his sunglasses.

The girl clenched her fists, and they all laughed again. Ophelia pushed past Ripp, shouting, "Hey! You jerks leave her alone!"

"Ophelia!" Johnny cried. He and Ripp exchanged a glance.

"We should go with her," Ripp said. Johnny nodded, and without another word the two boys followed after their friend, praying they weren't getting into more trouble than they could handle.

"Hey look guys, it's another one," said one of the others, a jerk with short brown hair. Ripp thought he looked a lot like his older brother Tank, which was not endearing at all. "I call dibs!"

"Don't you dare," Ripp snarled before he even thought about it, shifting into a fighting stance. Jerk. Messing with his best friend. Ripp knew he was nowhere near the fighter his brother was, but after years of living with the general and Tank, he could definitely hold his own against some punks.

"Oooooh, and this one's got a booooyfriend come to save her," Not-Tank mocked. "How sweeeeeeeeet! Did I piss you off, dude? Huh? Huh?"

"Four of us and four of you," Ripp said, trying to sound braver than he felt. It did make him feel better when Johnny tensed next to him. Johnny would have his back.

"Like we're scared of a bunch of kids. Run along, boys, this game's for men only."

"Ophelia, no!" Ripp cried when he noticed her reach behind her back. "You can't just…" He stopped talking then, because there was nothing he could do to make her listen. She pulled a long, slender magic wand from under the back of her shirt. Oh man. What should he do? Tank was better at these things than he was. What would Tank do?

Tank would...Ripp nearly laughed aloud. Tank would wonder what his father would do!

So….what would the general do?

Protect the girls.

No, no, that was silly, Ophelia clearly had control of the situation, she wasn't some silly damsel in distress, this was the 21st Century and girls could be tough too. Chivalry was unnecessary.

Except…

He turned his gaze to the redheaded girl, who was still squirming in the grasp of the man with the sunglasses. She was beautiful, all bright eyes and clear skin, her bright red hair and dark clothes a stark contrast with her pale complexion. Their eyes met for a moment, and Ripp had to take a deep breath.

 _Not the time_ , he scolded himself. Chivalry or no, she was in trouble and she needed his help. He'd sort it out later.

"Ooooh we're so scared," the guys mocked. Ophelia flicked her wand at them, sending them into peals of laughter, but Ophelia just smiled.

" _Spiritus Poultrias,_ " she whispered, and suddenly Not-Tank stopped laughing. His eyes widened and suddenly he began flapping his arms, his head jerking back and forth like a hen's.

"Bawk? Bawk bawk! Bawk! Bawkbawkbawkbawkbawk!" he screamed in frustration.

"Dude, what's your problem?" Sunglasses, who still held the red-haired girl by the arm, looked at his friend in annoyed concern.

"Oh, don't worry, it'll wear off," Ophelia said, giggling. "I gave him a personality improvement. You, however….hmmmmm." She shook her wand at him. " _Corpius Fleshicus!"_

The redhead winced as her captor was enveloped in bright, clear light. His grip weakened and she wrenched away from him, out of his grasp, and Ripp stepped between them without a word, just as his father had taught him to do when he was little.

"What did you do?" the man demanded as his formerly strong, muscular body morphed and changed into a pudgier, softer form.

"Taught you a lesson," Ophelia said. She giggled again.

"You….this better wear off!" he cried.

"Sure it will. With plenty of diet and exercise!" Ophelia turned to the redhead she'd just rescued. "Let's get out of here! Come on!"

"Catch them!" the newly overweight jerk yelled to his posse as the four teens barreled out of the shopping district.

Ripp wasn't sure how long they ran, or how far before they were no longer being chased, but he knew he had never been more thankful to hop the fence into Olive Specter's haunted garden.

Hearts pounding, breathing heavily, all four teens leaned against the fence, laughing in relief and the rush of the thrill.

"Did you see that!" Ophelia flapped her arms in a pretty good imitation of Not-Tank under the spell she'd cast. The laughter doubled until it hurt, and Ripp fell over onto the ground, bringing on yet another fresh round as Johnny tried to hold out a hand to help him up, but he was doubled over himself.

"Does…does that happen often around here?" The new girl asked breathlessly.

"You kidding? There hasn't been this much excitement in Strangetown since…" Johnny trailed off, trying to think of something.

"Since my dad had that fight with your dad?" Ripp supplied.

"Yeah, that's it! What were we, seven?"

"….something like that."

"Anyway, you must not be from around here," Ophelia said. "I'm Ophelia. This is my boyfriend, Johnny, and my best friend, Ripp. Welcome to Strangetown!"

"I'm Lilith," the new girl said, smiling at each of them. "You guys are great. Nobody back in Pleasantview would have stood up for me like that. Then again, I don't know anyone who can make people act like chickens, either. Man, I could have used that back home."

Ophelia laughed. "It's cool, all right, but I have to remember not to do it too much. Most people don't know I'm a witch, and I really don't want certain people – like Ripp's dad, for example – knowing."

"You're a witch? A real, live witch?" Lilith's eyes lit up. "That's so cool! And he…" she pointed to Johnny, "must be some kind of alien, right? That's why you're green, isn't it?" she asked, deciding mid-sentence to direct her question at Johnny, who chuckled.

"I get that a lot," he said. "My dad's an alien, yes. My mom's human, though. I'm one of those alien-human hybrids you hear about on _The X-Files._ "

"This place is so weird."

"Yeah, welcome to Strangetown," Ripp said. "Weird and downright crazy, that's what we do best.

"And what about you?" she asked, turning to him. "So far I've met a witch and an alien-human hybrid who watches _The X-Files._ Are you a ghost or something?"

The others laughed, and Ophelia answered for him. "Who, Ripp? Ripp's actually almost normal."

Ripp shrugged. Suddenly he felt overshadowed, worried that she would think Ophelia and Johnny were cooler than he was. "I'm just a guy with a jerk for a dad and an older brother who can do no wrong," he said.

"I feel ya," Lilith said, and for a moment, their eyes met, until Ophelia interrupted.

"Let's talk about this inside," Ophelia said. "We can make s'mores in the microwave."

"Sure!"

"I'm in."

"Sounds great."

But as they turned to enter the house, Ophelia stopped suddenly. "Crap!"

"What's wrong?" Johnny asked, concerned.

"I forgot the marshmallows!"

 **Hi there! Mollie here. I know I'm probably the most unreliable fanfiction writer ever, but here, finally, is Chapter 2. This one was fun – Ophelia is probably my favorite sim ever, followed closely by Ripp. I always make her a witch in-game, so I carried that over for some shenanigans here.**

 **So, I'm looking for some names for the guys in the chapter who harassed Lilith. I didn't quite need them for this chapter, but they'll be back in upcoming chapters and they'll need names. Anybody got a townie sim in their game that just gets on their nerves? I need about four or five names.**

 **Next chapter I promise we'll get back to Lilith's POV! Thanks for reading!**


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